An 8-year-old Cuban boy who likes to dress up as Fidel Castro got to meet his idol after Cuba's 88-year-old retired leader invited him and his family to his Havana home for a chat.

"I felt a lot of emotion upon seeing Fidel," Marlon Mendez said on Monday from his home near Havana. "The whole family hugged him. It was my dream to meet Fidel, and I did it. ... My mother was shaking."

Mendez and his family went to visit Castro on August 16, upon the invitation of the ex-leader who led the Cuban revolution of 1959 and remained in power for 49 years.

The boy likes to dress in green fatigues, army boots and a cap as Castro once did. Mendez wore the costume to his meeting with Castro, but without Castro's trademark beard and cigar.

Mendez was first featured on Cuban television on August 12, a day before Castro turned 88. His bedroom wall is decorated with dozens of pictures of Fidel, in contrast to the bed made with Snoopy sheets.

Mendez showed off pictures of his meeting with Castro and a hand-written note in which the aging revolutionary referred to "my great friend Marlon Mendez."

The boy's grandmother, Maria Elvira Hernandez, said they talked about agriculture and Venezuela, Cuba's close socialist ally.

"Eight-eight years are 88 years. But a lot of 88-year-olds would like to be like him," Hernandez said. "We want Fidel around for a lot longer."